Aberrant: Mutant High - [OW] Aftershocks

[z020]

"Not really. She's....just....her...." Oneca sighed deeply, pressing close to him as much from a need for comfort as from the cold. Her hand slipped down out of her jacket in search of his, she twined her fingers through his and hoped he wouldn't flinch away from her now.

She'd never hurt someone like that before. Sure, she'd made people feel bad, emotionally, but the most she'd ever done physically was some pushing and hair pulling a Girl Scout camp for the brief period that her parents had though stranding her in the woods with a bunch of whiny girls that only had her gender and general age range in common. She'd thought her powers were pretty cool, and kinda understood that they could be destructive. Realizing that if you get pissed enough, you could kill someone was a little disconcerting.

He could feel her shivering.

[Warren Verona]

He held her hand tightly, letting her know he was there. "Okay, she totally screwed up her approach, but I can accept that she was just being concerned."

He looked at her as the walked along the well melted path, thanks to Hotstreak. Revenant wasn't the most thoughtful of guys at times, but he'd gone through shit in his life just like anyone else. He knew confusion, fear, love and hate. Something was trouble ing her and it wasn't her sister interrupting their kiss. "But that's not what's bothering you is it?"

[z020]

She kept her head low, swallowing hard, and then stopped abruptly on the path. "I've....I've never hurt someone," she said softly. "Not like that. I mean, it's Sonja. She'll be fine. She heals everything, but what if it had been someone else? What if I lose control....really lose control? Most people are stupid and douchebags and don't deserve half the shit they have, but....I...I don't want be a monster."

She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "Not like that."

Something in her wanted to pull him close and just hold on to him, drown in his warmth and the feel of his arms around her. She'd liked boys before, and she wasn't really sure if this anything more than that sort of like, but the ache inside her was new. What's happening to me?

[Warren Verona]

"You're not a monster. Hey," He said to her softly and gently turned her head back to face him. "All you need to learn is control. I can help you learn it. I know what you're going through, when my gene first activated I didn't have any control either."

He stepped close to her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay to screw up Oneca, you got angry and something happened. Nothing can change the past, but together we'll help you learn control. Okay?"

He smiled. "Don't worry about your sister, she'll be fine. At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy and completely sensitive n' shit. Familial love is messy, clingy, and usually of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper." He winked at her and tried to pry a smile from her lips. "But, just because Sonja doesn't love you the way you want her to doesn't mean she doesn't love you with everything she's got."

[z020]

She snuggled into the hug, half listening to what he said but mostly just basking in the fact that he hadn't flinched away or told her off.

"Hmph, if she loves me much more, I'm gonna get thrown through a wall."

She shivered again, this time from an errant breeze that dropped the temperature around them another good five degrees. "Where do you want to go? I don't really know where much is yet, except my room and the cafeteria."

[Warren Verona]

He laughed a bit. "Yeah, same boat here." Then thought about it. "I mean, my room and the cafeteria, not your room."

He didn't like the idea, but he broke off the embrace. "Let's at least get inside. You can come hang out in my room for a bit if you like, or we could go to yours if you'd like to change." He made a motion towards her corsetry. "I admit to hating you putting those puppies away, no offense, but that can't be comfortable all the time. But either way," He shivered a bit. "It's frickin' cold out here and you're wearing less than me, so let's hammer out details inside."

[z020]

She nodded, "Yeah, breathing might make things better."

She pulled him along to her dorm and up to her room, which was obviously mostly decorated for her tastes, blacked out windows and all. One of the beds had a bit more color to it and was obviously battling for some presence in the lair. The jury was still out on whether or not it was going to make it. She grabbed a black, long-sleeved pull-over and some matching comfy black pants. She gave him a speculative grin, but disappeared into the bathroom to change. Unlike the horror stories he'd heard about girls, she was back out in only a few minutes, corset and dress over one arm and looking much softer if no less sexy in the pull-over and pants.

She tossed the dress and corset into her hamper and curled a leg under her as she sat on her bed. "So....this is my room. I still haven't met my roommate, but either she's a girl or wishes he was." She seemed a bit more nervous now, as if it had just struck her that she was alone in her room with a boy and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

[Warren Verona]

He looked around a bit as she led him in, enjoying the hold of her hand as long as he could until she had to let him go. The roomies bed certainly did stick out amongst the black but he preferred Oneca's tastes, now if only he could smother the living sun he was stuck rooming with.

He smiled back at her as she grinned before entering the bathroom to change. Not sure what to do while he waited he wandered a bit looking at the desk that was obviously hers by way of the decorations. He grinned slightly and picked up a nick-nack or two to better get a good look at them before setting them down where he found them. Anticipation was always the one thing that made time move at its slowest and Warren quickly realized that after looking at his hosts desk ornaments he'd run out of things to do while he waited.

Accepting his defeat at the hands of slowed time he sighed slightly and removed his heavy leather coat, hanging it over the back of her roommate's desk chair. Underneath the heavy coat was an incredibly black and faded Guns' n Roses: Appetite for Destruction t-shirt that looked like he probably mugged Larry the Cable Guy for it with the way the sleeves were torn off of it. For a teen his arms thick and toned, like an athlete who worked out regularly. He was secretly grateful that a majority og his muscle tone was thanks to his X-gene; it kept him looking fit and healthy with very little effort on his part.

When she finally came out of the bathroom (why does it take women forever in there?), despite by her reckoning it'd been a few minutes but to his it'd been the better part of three lifetimes and a quarter part of eternity, but it was worth it. Even just in a pull-over and plain ol' pants she was gorgeous.

It was funny to see now that she was just as nervous as he was. He'd just had his first real kiss, and it was everything he thought it would be. He'd somehow manages a crush on a girl he met not to long ago, and here they were, alone in her room. He was so nervous he wouldn't know what to do with her if he had instructions.

Thankfully she said something. "Hey, you got off light I think. You know who I got for a roomie? That sun guy, Alex. You know he's glowing like that twenty-four seven? I wanna smother his ass with a pillow. They gave us this curtain to put around his bed, yeah, great idea that woulda been if it's had worked." He made a jerking motion with his hand as he rolled his eyes. "He ain't a bad guy though, can't fault him for something he can't help."

[z020]

She was trying to pay attention to what he was saying. Really, she was. But he was a boy....a good looking boy....in her room.....that she'd kissed. She managed to catch the gist of it, though.

"I, uh, I could loan you some blackout curtains if you think that'd help. Or, y'know, since they don't seem to care about the whole coed thing, you could crash here sometimes if you can't sleep through Mr. Glow."

Um....Earth to Oneca. Your sister just freaked on you for kissing a guy at a party. What do you think she'll do if she catches him coming out of your room one morning? She bit her lip. "Um, that's if you want to risk another Amazon Barbie attack."

[Warren Verona]

Trying to look about as cool as he could, leaning against the desk, arms folded, muscle shirt, he shrugged with a single shoulder making an impassive half smirk. "I'm not worried about your sister. You're like Forbidden Fruit, the more she tries to keep me away, the more I'll want you. I'm contrary like that."

Woah, that sounded awesome.

It was, however, time to play stupid. He certainly had a crush for Oneca, but he wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at. Subtlety sometimes was wasted on him, especially when it came to the opposite sex. "Well, I'm not sure how your roomie would take that, I mean, not that I mind kickin' her out into the hall and takin' her bed, but that's a bit extreme, don'cha think?"

[z020]

She blushed at the metaphor, going from sexy to cute and back again. "Well, that really wasn't what I meant."

She watched him, wondering if he'd get the point, and if she was really sure of the point she was making. Whatever. Too late to take it back now.

[Warren Verona]

"Umm," He looked honestly confused. He was doing the math in his head, but honestly wasn't sure if his figures came out the same as his. "Not to sound dumb, but I've spent six years in a lab and two living on the streets, sometimes the obvious goes over my head."

He chuckled a bit. "You mean, you and I, same bed, right?"

I sound like such a fuckin' retard...

[z020]

She nodded, blushed, giggled, and grabbed one of her large pillows to her chest to hide behind. Peeking out from behind the she offered, "Well, unless you prefer the floor...."

[Warren Verona]

He chuckled, his face flushing as she laughed at him. He did sound like an idiot, so he took his giggle lashings with as much pride as he could muster. He nodded a few times, letting her know that she got to him. "Yeah, yeah... stupid question, I know."

He sobered up a bit and grinned slightly. "Can I confess something?" He really didn't wait for an answer. "The couch, earlier? My first kiss. Before you, tonight, I haven't had my hands on a woman for that long, and in so many varied places, ever."

He was still lighthearted, she could tell it in his expression. How could he not be? She was an exotic mixture of adorable and alluring as was peeking out from behind her pillow. It made every cell in his body quiver as his mind conflicted with cluelessness and desire. "I'm kinda new to all this. People, friends, affection." He raised up his hands, "Don't get me wrong, you're making it one hell of an easy transition, I'm not mad or disappointed or anything."

He folded his arms again and sighed, for a nervous guy Warren was certainly one of those types who didn't hold in what he was thinking or feeling. It appeared he wasn't shy or embarrassed to simply admit where his faults might lie. "I'm just... I don't know, trying really hard not screw up. I knew what you meant, I just didn't want to assume and look like some dumb ass trying to get into your room and into your bed so I can see what base I can make it to next, y'know?"

His expression went deadpan. "Which is almost a total lie, because I'm really hoping we could do more of that making out stuff again... soon." He shook his head trying to focus. Too much info. "I like you, I genuinely like you Oneca, and I'm trying my best not to come off like a complete douchebag or do something dumb and completely ruin my luck with probably the coolest girl I've met."

He was about as red as red could get. "So, y'know, I'm sorry if I seem really nervous or if I'm actin' all chicken shit. I just don't want you get the wrong idea and get pissed at me or something... I'm kinda on eggshells here."

[z020]

Her eyes widened at his admissions, a little shocked both that she'd accidentally managed to be his first kiss and that he'd actually admit that to her. She crawled out from behind the pillow and off the bed to stand in front of him, her expression a mix of compassion and determination.

"Glad I could make it easy," she murmured before tipping up on her toes and kissing him again very briefly. "Tell you what, easy ground rules: if it hasn't been stated, then don't assume. I'm offering you a bed so far, nothing else. I won't bite your head off or something if you go a little past friendly for my comfort, but a 'no' is a 'no'. If you think you can handle that, then we'll probably be fine."

She stepped back, lacing her hands behind her back and biting her lip nervously while she waited for his response.

[Warren Verona]

"Probably?" He smiled, the kiss she pecked him with sent a shiver through his body. "I like how you left that open."

"No means no," He repeated, "And more than friendly is cool, but keep the brakes pumping until we get a better grasp things? That sounds totally fair to me, I honestly don't think I'd know what to do if you handed me a guide book walked me through it, so slow is cool with me."

He took a step and placed his hands on her hips, a bit lower than what parents would have appreciated, but too low. "Thanks for the bed, I'll probably take you up on it. Not tonight, I don't think. I left my jammies in our room." He winked and smiled as he looked own at her, wanting to kiss her again. At the pace his hormones were racing he was still fairly nervous. He had never been this riled up before and knew he'd have to keep his wits about him until he came to understand exactly what it was he was going through emotionally and mentally. Still, in the meantime there was no reason for either of them to waste the warmth of the other's company. "I've an idea. How bout we collapse in the bed, lay there, chill, and if we talk the night away, cool, and if we make out till dawn, cool too."

[z020]

She grinned and tugged him down onto the bed after her, curling up against and smiling in that feminine way that pretty much always meant trouble for men but most men didn't seem to mind. She knew, just like him, that she was in a little more over her head than she usually let it go, but hey, school was for taking chances, right? Besides, he was fun and smelled so good and felt amazing pressed up against her or kissing her back.

They talked and made out and talked and made out a little more, whittling away the hours of the night and missing the actual New Year's with their own preoccupations; Oneca didn't quite make it until dawn, drousing off against Revenant in a pleasant haze of hormones and bodyheat.

[Warren Verona]

The more they talked the easier it became to loosen up around her. It was amazing how time seemed to fly past as she shared little secrets and likes and dislikes in typical teenage fashion, even boiling down at one point point to a 'who has better tase in music' contest that Oneca won because she started a make out session before he could submit his reply. It was amazing how well he accepted defeat in that case.

Neither could last much longer though and as Oneca yawned Warren lay behind her and gently glided his thumb back and forth across her stomach. She tried to talk more but eventually accepted her own defeat and drifted off as he lightly kissed the back of her neck and shoulders (it seemed like a good idea, he saw some guy on H.B.O. do it one night on some vampire show...).

He followed shortly after with Oneca cradled comfortably in his arms and once in awhile, as if by reflex, his thumb would slowly glide across her soft skin.

[SalmonMax]

The two were dozing comfortably, spooning under the covers...suspended in a warm, hazy drowse, when the door lock 'khchunked' open, and the door opened!

"And here it is," said a high, female voice. The person that was standing in the doorway was small, with her hands held out in a sort of 'game show hostess' pose. A moment after striking that pose she looked into the room...and her eyes widened.

"Oh shit!" she blurted, and started to close the door quickly. "Uh!" she said to whoever else was out there, "Looks like she's busy so we should come back later!"

[z020]

Oneca pressed into the warmth on one side of her, making protesting noises at the intrusion of light and sound into her comfortable sleepiness.

She managed to grumble out, "Turn off the hall light...M'got school tomorrow..." before trying to tug the blanket that was still strangely underneath her over her head. Her brow knit in concentration and confusion at the fabric's insistence on not moving, and eventually settled on the much more expedient solution of turning over and burying her face against Warren's arm.

[Sonja Bahaar]

Somewhat inebriated, Sonja absently glanced around the room presented by her tiny hostess, vaguely noting the dark decor, a furrow marring the smoothness of her brow. Her fingers rubbed her temples, soothing the steady throb, a frown on her lips and tiredly shaking her head at the sight of the girl, dark hair obscuring her face, the boy pressed closed. She still couldn't believe they let stuff like this happen at LHA - at least they had their clothes on. That might have been embarrassing.

Originally Posted By: Oneca

"Turn off the hall light...M'got school tomorrow..."

Originally Posted By: Kia

"Oh shit!""Looks like she's busy so we should come back later!"

The intimately familiar voice mumbling struck like the buff Barbie like a bucket of cold water, her alcoholic haze burned away by the flush of red painting her face and neck. The closing door was stopped in its tracks by a long, sleekly toned arm that shot out over Kia's head.

"'Neca." Sonja's voice was low and strangely flat, belying her flushed appearance, tense, almost quivering with the effort of retaining her composure, her free hand balled in a tight fist. Sonja looked like she was about to explode in a display to shame the fireworks at midnight.

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri raised her eyebrows at her friend's reaction, then peered into the room. She saw the bad, dark woman in bed with a boy. She wasn't sure why it was so upsetting to Sonja. She did know one thing: Sonja was about to stick her nose in something, and Morri lifted her eyes to her nose, eagerly watching it. Maybe this time, she'd see what Sonja did with her nose.

[Warren Verona]

Groggily Warren manage dto barely open his eyes, his nose caught the scent of Oneca's hair and it reminded him where he was.

"'Hell's goin' on?" he asked sleepily but loud enough for everyone to hear.

[SalmonMax]

"Sonja," Kia whispered frantically, "It's okay, you can tell nothing happened. Lets just close...the door..."

She tugged at the door uselessly.

"...and let them get some sleep. Sonja, come on."

When the boy started to wake up and complain she leaned in a little with a guilty look. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were home I'll be out of your hair in just a...second..." She tried to pry Sonja's fingers off the doorknob, as uselessly as before.

"Sonja!"

[Sonja Bahaar]

"Fine!" Sonja spat, her hand springing from the doorknob, nostrils flaring, her deep, agitated breathing straining her dress across her prodigious bosom. I said I'd stay out of others business, but fuck! Did 'Neca have to make it so damned hard?

Sonja turned her back on the 'innocent' teens laying down on the bed, fists clenched, hoping that not seeing them like that would help hold off her instinctive reaction to do something rather drastic and probably unfortunate.

[z020]

Oneca was still in a haze, but it was hard to sleep with Sonja yelling at someone outside the room. Did she invite friends over? Wait, wasn't she supposed to be at school?

She pulled herself up enough to sort of wake up, peering blearily out towards the hallway. Where was she....oh, yeah. Demon....mutant.....LHA. It came back to her in little fits and starts, giving her a rather incomplete picture of why her sister was fuming outside her room. "Sonja? What the hell? Do you need something?"

How she could come off as aggravated, confrontational, sleepy, and concerned all at once was a mystery of universal proportions, but there it was. She rubbed her face and blinked several times while her pupils tried to dilate, the red haze from only a few hours ago completely disappeared from the golden amber irises now. As their eyes adjusted to the dark, the people there could see a faint red light around the younger Bahaar sister, but only if they caught her out of the corner of their eye or when they looked away. Then again, it might just have a been a trick of the light.

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri watched Sonja turn away, a little disappointed that Sonja wasn't sticking her nose into anything again. Not that it was a good thing, but Morri still didn't understand what she was doing when she did it, and would have liked to see exactly what was happening.

Glancing into the room fully, she was quickly distracted by what she saw in there. Something about the two tangled together in the bed unnerved her, and she quickly stepped back, following her instincts. Something about what they were doing was wrong, but Morri wasn't worried about them - she was worried about herself. Pressing her back to a wall, she waited tensely.

[Sonja Bahaar]

Sonja whirled back to face her sister, taking a deep breath, then forcing down all her instinctual sisterly wrath and protectiveness for her overly annoying and precocious sister. Sonja seemed almost calm, a faint curve to her lips, indigo eyes twinkling in the dimness, as she reached into her coat pocket.

Originally Posted By: Sleepy 'Neca

"Sonja? What the hell? Do you need something?"

"The only thing I need, 'Neca," Sonja said with surprising levity, which concerned Oneca more than her sister's usual outbursts, "is you telling me why there's a guy you just met tonight in bed with you." Sonja's hand withdrew from her pocket, iPhone in hand, followed by a tell-tale click. "I'm sure mom's gonna wanna know too."

[SalmonMax]

"Ooookay," Kia said, trying to cut in. "Uh, hey there, I'm your, uh..." She waved a hand at the other bed, sitting empty against the far wall. "I had no idea you were here or I wouldn't have...or that you two were related. This is just really, really bad circumstances. So...I'm just gonna say sorry and good luck and then close the door, okay?"

She gave Sonja a worried look. "Okay?"

[z020]

Oneca rolled her eyes and Kia realized that she might as well be invisible to the two spatting sisters at the moment. The darker Bahaar sister shrugged, "God, what are you, five?"

Her voice pitched up into a little kid's falsetto, "I'm gonna tell mommy!" She shrugged again, "Go ahead, I mean, what more are they really gonna do? I can't go to any other school now and I'm not the one that gets the fancy car or the big allowance or anything else that Mommy's precious little Amazon wants. If I want something, I get it myself."

She leaned back against Warren, settling against his body heat and refusing to be pulled out of bed by her sister's threats. Her eyes hadn't tinted red and she hadn't given off the air of menace that had preceeded her flesh-burning episode before, but the anger and challenge were clear. "So call. What the hell does it matter now? Mom'll throw a fit if she doesn't have anything more interesting to be doing at the moment and Dad'll sigh and say how disappointed he is that I haven't made better decisions."

Her voice dropped a bit quieter, but had no less venom in it, "I'm pretty damn used to it at this point. So if it gets your rocks off, go for it. Glad I could help."

Her eyes tracked over to Kia, unintentionally softening at the girl's mildly panicked look. "Hey. And you don't have to apologize for Barbie; she's not you're fault. Sorry we had to meet like this. Hope you don't mind the curtains."

It was an attempt at civility, at least.

[Sonja Bahaar]

"Great fuckin' attitude, sis. The 'rents can't really punish ya any harder, so now ya can do whatever the hell you want. Fuck the consequences, right?" The iPhone shattered to bits of plastic, glass, and circuits in Sonja's strong hand, negligent as her false calm drowned beneath the rising tide of her own anger. "It's not like we know what can happen if we don't have someone to look out for us, huh?" The unspoken name was loud between to two sisters, ringing in the silence. Sonja's indigo eyes blazed, her low voice hot.

Sonja turned away from Oneca once more, only her furious profile visible in the dimness, jaw tight, a muscle twitching. "You totally right, what the hell does it matter, telling mom? So go around, 'Neca, burning the arms off anyone who pisses you off, jumping in bed with guys you just met." Sonja's pearly toothed sneer was the only acknowledgment she made to Warren's existence. "And what are mom and dad thinking? You're fifteen and don't have a license, why shouldn't you have a fuckin' car. Since mom and dad can't punish you, I'm sure nothing bad can possibly happen. Can it?"

Sonja glanced down at the tiny, bewildered freshman, relaxing just a bit, though her voice was still hard. "Sorry about that, Kia. Good night." The amazonian teen gave her dark sister one last, level look, then walked away with long strides, the sounds of her heels fading quickly with her brisk pace, stomach roiling with agitation and alcohol.

Entering her room, Sonja immediately went into the bathroom and emptied her guts of booze and bile, angrily brushing her teeth and downing some mouthwash to rid herself of the foul taste. She kicked off her heeled boots and padded back into her room, pulling her dress off in a single fluid movement. She laid down, trying to fall asleep, but was too wired, agitated.

She got up again, picking up a picture hanging on the wall, glassed and framed in wood. She stood by the window, near naked figure limned in the soft light of pre-dawn, her thumb sliding across the smooth surface of the photo. It showed three young girls on a beach, showing off the elaborately extensive sand castle they had made. All the girls were smiling and giggling, the lanky blonde with her arms around the two brunettes, shorter and just a bit younger than her.

A bead of silvery liquid fell, hitting the glassed photo with a faint splat, sliding a crooked path across the tilted surface.

[Warren Verona]

"I love how she leaves so no one can get a word in edgewise." Warren commented, enjoying Oneca's closeness to him. "I guess it's easy to live in a world where you're always right when you never take the time to listen to what anyone else has to say."

He shrugged and looked to Kia. "Hey," he gave he a nod. "I'm Revenant and that," He pointed to where Sonja was standing a moment before. "Was a psycho."

[SalmonMax]

"She's...a bit high strung," Kia admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, sorry about this. I'll come back later, only quietly. Nice to meet you both anyway..." She gave Oneca a shy smile. "We should probably work out like...a door sign or something. Just in case. Anyway, not now. Good night you two."

She gave Morri a look and said, "Mind if I walk you back to your place?"

[z-The Morrigan]

"Why?" Morri really didn't understand this custom, so Kia was getting a flat, confused stare. "We walk you here, now you walk me there? I then walk you back? How many more time?" She wondered where it would end!

But this quandary wasn't getting Morri's full attention, mostly because the feral was still trying to figure out why the image of the man and woman in bed was so troublesome to her. There were no weapons, no blood, not even the bad sister trying to burn anyone. Yet her stomach was clinched tight, and she felt like running. But where was the danger? She couldn't see any see any cause for alarm, but she couldn't calm down.

And Sonja had left her. Morri wondered if she had done something wrong, watching for Sonja to stick her nose in. Should she have tried to stop her, like Kia did? Is that why Sonja had left without saying goodbye?

Or... maybe she knew what the bad thing was, and maybe she knew that Morri had done it. Morri knew that she'd done things she couldn't remember. Had she done something bad to a man and a woman in a bed, and Sonja had found out and was angry?

Morri suddenly felt very alone. For the first time, she considered the possibility that being without a friend might be unpleasant, rather than a state of being. "Yes, we walk," she said before Kia could answer. Kia was a friend and still here, so it was ok. But remembering Oni-Ka and Rev Nant in the bed together still made her feel bad.

[SalmonMax]

Kia accompanied Morri down the hall a bit, sensing the other girl's unease but wanting to get a little distance before addressing it.

"So, that was pretty confusing huh?" Kia confided. "At first, I couldn't figure out what was going on. I think I get it now though."

She hesitated, then asked, "Are you feeling okay? You look kind of tense. More than usual."

[z-The Morrigan]

"Bad," Morri huffed; if she'd had ears, they would have been plastered to the top of her head. "That bad," she said, unable to find the words to say why a man and a woman in a bed together were bad.

Before Kia could press her, Morri said, "Sonja anger me?" She paused and amended, "Sonja anger at me?" She looked so pleased at having caught the 'at' that Kia wasn't sure if she should mention that it should have been 'angry'. A moment later her glee at catching her slip faded and she cast worried eyes at Kia again. "I do bad?"

[SalmonMax]

Kia experienced a moment of pure d'awwwwwwwwww... at Morri's unguarded innocence. She really was like a teddy bear, Morri. Like a big, cute, fuzzy...murderous, deadly teddy bear.

She beamed at Morri and shook her head. "Sonja's not angry at you," she assured her, verifying the 'at' without even really thinking about it. "The girl in the bed was her sister, I guess, and Sonja was angry at her because she thought she was sleeping with some guy from the party."

Kia shrugged. "I guess she's pretty conservative, huh?"

[z-The Morrigan]

"She like putting her nose in things," Morri replied, sounding a little more relaxed. "If mad at Oni Ka, then why act anger-ry at me?" The poor feral still looked confused; if she were mad at someone, she'd be mad at them and not at a Sonja. How anger at another could defer to her left her shaken. It wasn't enough to be good; she had to be sure others were being good too, but she knew that she couldn't control others. The thought left her terrified of a world that held her responsible for others' mistakes.

[SalmonMax]

"I guess because...oh, it's complicated," Kia sighed. "And really, I'm not Sonja so I don't really KNOW...but sometimes when people are angry and they can't...like, express it...then they act angry even at things, or people, they're not really mad at. Okay, that's still confusing. Um." Kia paused and tried to think of words and phrases that she knew Morri understood.

"Oneca is Sonya's sister, and Sonya sometimes gets in trouble because she keeps putting her nose in Oneca's business, even though she's just worried about her. And Sonya doesn't want to keep getting in trouble. So now she's trying very hard not to put her nose in...even though she's angry. So she's angry at Oneca, but she doesn't want to get in trouble for yelling at Oneca. And that makes her a little bit angry at everything. Sort of. But it's not because of something you did."

She rubbed her head with a wince. Thinking like Morri hurt a bit. Or maybe one of those wine coolers had actually managed to hit her after all. "Does that make sense?" Kia asked plaintively.